Black Earth Ensemble (BEE)
Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble (BEE) is a musical celebration of the African American cultural legacy. Founded and directed in 1998 by creative flutist/composer Nicole Mitchell, BEE has performed in festivals and art venues throughout Europe and Canada and in New York and Chicago. BEE’s music embraces the ancient past and paints visions of a positive future. The music is the weaving of swing, blues, avante garde jazz, bebop, African rhythms, Eastern modes and Western classical sounds. The name “Black Earth” was chosen to honor the feminine source that our lives depend on—Mother Earth. The purpose of Black Earth Ensemble is to inspire the human spirit with thought-provoking beauty and to present a positive, healthy and culturally aware image of African Americans. As a woman-directed, co-ed, multi-generational group, it touches a range of emotional spaces rarely expressed in a “jazz” setting. Black Earth's message is intended for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. BEE has three critically acclaimed CDs: Vision Quest, Afrika Rising and Hope, Future and Destiny, all on Dreamtime Records.
Current Projects for Black Earth Ensemble 2008
Black Unstoppable Program (Black Earth Ensemble) features a diverse collection of new songs that touch all sides of Great Black Music. The music of Black Earth's upcoming album with Delmark Records is avant-garde jazz dipped in blues, seasoned with R&B and simmering with soul. The group ranges in size from a quartet to a nonet. Ideal instrumentation for the Black Unstoppable Project is an octet with flute (Nicole Mitchell), vocals (Ugochi), tenor sax (David Boykin), trumpet (David Young), cello (Tomeka Reid), guitar (Jeff Parker), bass (Josh Abrams) and drums (Marcus Evans).
Xenogenesis Program (Black Earth Ensemble) features Nicole Mitchell’s newly commissioned work inspired by the Afrofuturist science fiction writer Octavia Butler. Commissioned by Chamber Music America with the generous support of the Doris Duke Charitable Trust, Mitchell composed a suite that evokes journey into the horrific, yet fascinating unknown. Xenogenesis Suite recently premiered at the Vision Festival XII in New York. Xenogenesis Project is a nonet including flute (Nicole Mitchell), voice (Mankwe Ndosi), tenor sax (David Boykin), trumpet (David Young), cello (Tomeka Reid), piano (Justin Dillard), bass (Josh Abrams), drums (Marcus Evans), percussion (Avreeayl Ra). Xenogenesis Project has an upcoming release on Firehouse 12 Records.
Black Earth Strings (BES)
At the forefront of jazz, new music and creative improvisation, Black Earth Strings brings African rhythms, contemporary sounds and swinging improvisation to a chamber music setting. An acoustic ensemble of four members, Black Earth Strings includes flute, piccolo, alto flute, vocals, violin viola, cello, string bass and percussion to create a wide range of textures and colors. Black Earth Strings is a quartet with flute (Nicole Mitchell), violin/viola (Renee Baker), cello (Tomeka Reid) and bass (Josh Abrams). Black Earth Strings performs ideally in acoustically designed performance halls. Black Earth Strings has performed in art venues and festivals throughout the Midwest and in Europe and has an upcoming CD.
Harambee Project
Harambee Project is a multi-cultural group that Nicole Mitchell was commissioned to debut at the Made in Chicago Festival in Poznan, Poland in November 2006. Harambee is a Swahili word for “coming together.” Through creative music and R&B, Mitchell composed the Harambee Suite to voice the process from chaos to racial segregation to negotiation and ultimately the human call for unity. The Harambee Project includes musicians from Chicago’s AACM and from Asian Improv arts Midwest.
Collaborations
Indigo Trio with Nicole Mitchell (flutes) Hamid Drake (drums) and Harrison Bankhead (bass, cello). Indigo is a deep blue dye used by the ancients of Egypt, India, Persia and Incan civilizations; its legacy contributes to the oldest evidence of human art.
Indigo Trio digs intuitively to the essence of Black music with adventurous improvised music. Indigo Trio has a CD “Live in Montreal” on the Greenleaf label and performs at the Vancouver Jazz Festival in July.
Frequency is a collective quartet with Nicole Mitchell (flutes), Ed Wilkerson (sax, clarinet), Harrison Bankhead (bass) and Avreeayl Ra (percussion). Frequency represents some of the leading work of the Chicago’s AACM of this decade. Frequency recently debuted its first CD on Thrill Jockey Records and will be touring Poland in July 2007.